In the attractive alcove leading to the dining area, Duo absently studied
the painted walls as they walked toward the lighted end of the hall. The
painting wasn't too awful to say the least. Greens and blues combined in
a beauteous array, forming a wonderfully done hallway with a country riverside
look.

In the main dining area, the place was done similarly, if not less so
than the alcove. Plants adorned the place, well-placed to give the restaurant
a flourishing look. Golden chandeliers hung from the vaulted ceiling, lit
with dim bulbs made to look like real candles. At the tables, wealthy-looking
people sat chatting amiably with guests, dressed casually.

"It's beautiful," Hilde said softly, staring at one of the
more exotic plants and marveling the unique, natural bluish color. "For
a casual, modestly-priced place, this place is exquisitely decorated."

//Modestly-priced? To Heero, maybe...// Duo thought grumpily, crossing
his arms and fixing the older boy with a stern look that he didn't notice.
The fact he was in his old workplace was not that far from his mind, but
once the idea of Heero paying for five meals that would cost a small fortune
had shoved it farther away from his main view. He knew exactly how much
a meal cost at `Fortunado's'. More than he made with six paychecks from
his job as a store clerk and his ex-job as a cook and waiter.

"Chin up, Duo," Hilde teased, placing a long finger under her
cousin's chin and tilting it from his pre-pouting position. He saw a flash
of baby blues under her purple bangs before she moved away from him again,
a small smile on her mouth. "You look like someone is going to take
you out back and shoot you any minute now."

"He wouldn't do that... His wife, though..."

Heero's eyes snapped into his direction, having heard that comment loud
and clear where Hilde, Solo, and Helen missed it totally. With a flush he
bowed his head, allowing his bangs to obscure his face in hopes of keeping
his reddened cheeks from his sight.

Hoo-boy...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Something was definitely wrong with Duo. As soon as the group had walked
through the elegant doors, the braided American had become timid, ready
to bolt at any second. Where the spark of curiosity and the flare of stubbornly
burning fire smoldered was something akin to the look of dread and reluctance.

The fact Duo gave Heero thinly veiled glares every once in a while didn't
escape his notice, either.

Making sure the family was well-occupied with admiring the excellence
of the lovely restaurant, Heero moved to Duo's side with open concern.

"Duo..." Heero paused, watching as Duo frantically jerked bodily
toward Heero. It wasn't the fact that Heero had surprised him, he knew;
it was because two waitresses chatting had just passed, and one of them
had looked in their direction. With a calming smile the woman signaled that
she would seat them in a minute and parted from the other, heading for the
backroom.

"Would you rather go somewhere else?" Heero finally asked,
looking down at the shorter boy.

"Why do you ask that?" Duo quipped, a spark of defiance taking
its usual claim in his smoldering violet gaze. "You wanted a modest
dinner, and this is about as `modest' as it gets, ne?" Rolling his
eyes, the braided American gave him a knowing look. "Please, Heero.
I'd have known this place would most likely burn my checkbook to ash even
if I was born yesterday."

"You disapprove." It was more of a statement than a question,
his Prussian eyes studying the American intently. With a small sigh the
stiffness left his shoulders as he slumped, glancing in the directionof
his family before turning purple eyes back on him.

"Yes and no. I don't like the fact that you're spending all this
money and me and my family, but... I appreciate what you're doing for my
family, what with taking them to this place and all." Shoving his hands
in his jacket pocket, Duo added in a mumble, "Something I could never
do for them, even if I tried..."

"Soon you'll have enough money to do this at your leisure,"
Heero reminded him gently, hesitantly placing a hand on the petite boy's
shoulder. "If you want... I'll allow you to attempt to pay me back.
I can't guarantee that I'll take it, but you can try."

Duo laughed aloud, covering his mouth with one hand. "You conceited
jerk!" With a playful push against Heero's ribs, Duo began laughing
again, the sound like the chiming of small, tinkering bells. Some patrons
close by, both male and female, paused in whatever conversation they were
indulging to look for the person belonging to the beautiful laugh. Heero
simply stood, momentarily stupefied, as he watched the mirth play across
Duo's face before dying down to roiling chuckles. Snapping out of it, he
held back the urge to reach over and kiss those parted pilgrims called lips.

The insult slid off of him. "I'm only speaking the truth."

"That's the funny part," Duo replied easily, grinning up at
him, his head tilting to the side slightly. "Why?"

"Why?..." Heero blinked, perplexed at the meaning of Duo's
question.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" Softly sighing, the smile on
the violet-eyed angel's turned wistful. "At first I thought Howard
asked you to butter me up so I'd take the part... but you keep doing the
damned sweetest things that make me want to both thank you and hit you...
Why?"

It was a question he couldn't answer to even himself. Why did he? He
couldn't understand. He'd never treated someone like Duo. He'd never worried
about anyone other than Dorothy and Duo. It seemed that ever since that
day on the bridge... he just couldn't stop thinking about him. He had frequently
wondered if Duo was eating right, or if Duo might have fallen down those
steps to his apartment, or if some cruel person set the apartment building
on fire...

He answered Duo truthfully. "I don't know." He paused, searching
for the right words. "I... Duo, you are the most amazing person I've
ever..." He paused, again, this time realization dawning. Duo was the
most amazing person he ever had the chance to meet. His innocent smile sometimes
polluted with sadness, his violet gaze burning with inner fire, his lithe
frame, petite form, sparkling personality... Duo was an angel from Heaven
to his dark world of ignorant parents and fanatical fans. He kept the hurtful
self-thoughts at bay, and one smile could melt Heero's resolve... Duo was...
Duo was...

"I can't explain it, Duo," Heero murmured softly, this time
allowing himself to reach forward and caress his cheek softly. Duo leaned
toward the body heat, closing his amethyst eyes and moaning softly and quietly.
"Just trust me when I say... that at this moment, my world has centered
around you. You're like this... I'm sorry, I just can't explain that well.
I refuse to deny that I'm attracted to you in a physical manner," Duo
flushed and averted his face by tilting his face downward... but never allowing
his face to loose contact with Heero's larger hand, "but I'm also attracted
to your personality and how your inner beauty matches your outer beauty.
You're a wonderful, caring person and I..." //I adore him for it.//
Yes, adore. It was the strongest word he could even think to use so close
to his first meeting of Duo Maxwell. Adoration... closely bordering and
tittering toward love...

Love.

He was falling in love.

He was falling in love with Duo.

"Yuy, party of five?" the waitress finally chimed out, diverting
Duo's attention momentarily from Heero's eyes. He never saw the brief flash
of realization before it was firmly hidden from sight and replaced by something
else.

Determination.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was night in the home shared between five great friends that happened
to be five of the most popular actors on the big screen. Chang Wufei looked
around the darkened kitchen silently, confused. There was always at least
one person in the kitchen snacking or keeping another company. However,
the large, well-stocked room was completely empty.

//Trowa and Quatre are upstairs doing their... `nightly rituals'.// Wufei
thought wryly, grinning in the darkness of the hallway. //Dorothy is just
coming in from the pool... Where's Heero?// The Japanese actor was usually
always home on a Friday night. He never dated.

He stopped his lover before she made her way to change from her bathing
suit. "Where's your brother?"

She smirked ferally. It was a smirk that Wufei well-enough recognized.
//She knows something Heero won't realize about himself unless he thinks
real hard.//

"He's out realizing he's falling madly in love with an American
boy who, by the way, is replacing Mags in our little project together. Now."
She gave him a heated look. "Why don't you come upstairs and help me
out of this bikini? You've been shut in the guest room for a better part
of the week memorizing your lines, you've probably forgotten all about the
warmth given to a man by a woman..."

All thoughts of Heero falling in love flew out the window the second
Wufei took his first step toward his goal. Let the poor sod find out his
own love problems. He had some major kissing up to do.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Duo had never had a chance to sample any of the food when he worked for
the owner of the Italian restaurant. Sure, he'd cooked plenty of it in his
time, but that had nothing to do with the fact he never sampled it himself.
He never had the material to cook like so at his home, but his customers
usually commented about how good it was.

Duo found that he really liked Italian food other than spaghetti.
Half of his chicken con broccoli was well on its way into his digestive
system when he started to feel very full.

"Heeeero!"

A fork-full of cupped pasta lingered in mid-air, his mouth open to accept
the delicious morsel. Instead of gulping it down as he normally would have,
he turned his head to the side ever so slightly to glance at the owner of
the shrill yell.

Heero simply leaned back into his chair after putting his fork down,
stuck between a smirk of amusement and a frown of disapproval.

A beautiful wheat-blonde stood beside their table, smiling brilliantly
at the assembled family with the star. Her cornflower blue eyes missed nothing,
even lingering on Duo for a second before moving onto Hilde and loitering
even longer. With a final, slow grin she turned her eyes back to the Japanese
boy.

"Dorothy's fine." Heero finally let the frown die into a smirk
before turning his Prussian blue eyes from the new girl's moody expression.
"May I introduce Relena Peacecraft. Duo, she'll be playing the opposing
role from you."

Duo nodded, smiling meekly once the girl turned her gaze back to him.
"Hello."

"Hi," she bubbled sweetly, admiring the picture. "Oooh,
Hee-chan! You're boy would make a lesbian go straight if she ever thought
she had a chance!"

Hilde and Helen both respectively hid behind their napkins. Hilde because
she was busy choking on the veal lodged in her throat, and Helen because
she was hiding a laugh. Duo ended up sinking low in his chair with a delicate
blush splashing his pale cheeks.

//How embarrassing,// he thought miserably.

Heero just snorted. "As you can already figure, she's an airhead
and she talks before thinking. Relena, this is Duo Maxwell, his aunt Helen,
his cousin Hilde and her son Solo." The wheat-blonde actress took the
time to nod a respective hello to each, but she especially gave Hilde a
hidden wink before turning her attention back to Heero. Not hidden enough
for Duo to miss, however. Nor Hilde.

"Well, I really do hate to visit and run, but I have an appointment
to keep. It was nice to meet you and your family, Duo. I hope we become
good friends as the movie plays along. Good-bye, Helen. Bye, Solo."
With a large, sensuous grin, she stared at the blushing Hilde. "I hope
to see you soon... Hilde."

When the wheat-blonde was well away from the table, Duo couldn't help
it. He crowed with laughter and slapped his flushed cousin on the shoulder.
"Coz got a girlfriend, coz got a girl~friend!"

"I'm really sorry about that," Heero apologized, though there
was also a faint smile on his lips. "Relena usually lets someone know
she's interested, and she's really picky about her women. She had a crush
on Doro-chan for the longest time, but it faded."

"Oh, it's really all right," she said softly, stirring her
angel hair pasta leisurely while keeping her eyes on the bread sticks. "It's
just, nobody has done something so outrageous like that after they find
out I have a son." Her eyes twitched to Solo, who was too busy wrestling
with his pizza to notice. With a sad smile, she said, "It was a nice
change of pace."

There was an uncomfortable, stale hesitation lingering in the air as
Heero merely frowned at the odd statement, yet saying nothing to encourage
further discussion. Chitchat would have gone on as planned if it wasn't
for a small detail in the form of a young child with reddish hair and strange,
forked eyebrows dragging her equally amused blonde aristocratic father toward
the familiar figure they knew as Duo Maxwell.

"Mr. Duo!"

Duo jumped in his seat, all of a sudden becoming a bit paranoid as his
violet eyes flew to the child, than to the child's father, and then to search
out another, although luckily absent figure. With a sigh of relief, Duo
smiled at the child and her father.

"Nor is Une, Duo," chortled the man only known as Khushrenada.
He was a very tall, wealthy-looking man, set blue eyes and mild mannerisms
his best known features other than the strange forked eyebrows that his
daughter seemed to inherit that decorated his brow. "It's good to see
you again. You seem to keep..." Those blue eyes landed on Heero and
he smiled slyly, "better company these days."

"You mean Mark?" Duo asked softly, a sad smile on his face.
"Ah, well. You know I was never interested in him."

"Oh, of course."

"Duo? You know this man?" Hilde asked politely, finding the
perfect place to interrupt.

"Yeah, I do. I kind a' worked here until I had to turn in my resignation."
Duo flushed pink, turning his eyes downcast. "This is the owner of
the restaurant, Mr. Trieze Khushrenada and his daughter Mariemaia. Lady
Anne is Trieze's wife, for clarification."

"`Had'? When did you turn it in, and why?" Helen asked softly,
confused. Duo rarely ever gave up on something unless something prevented
him from doing his work at his best.

"Oh, well..." Duo shrugged, fidgeting with his braid. "Lady
Anne doesn't like me all too much. She can't stand being in the same room
with me, in fact. It's not that I did anything in particular to piss her
off, it's just that Une has a thing for young men with long hair. Usually
what or who Une likes, Anne won't stand for."

"And Une is?..."

"My poor wife's multiple personality," Trieze put in, placing
a hand on top of his daughter's head. "Duo decided in order to keep
trouble from brewing, he'd turn in his resignation. I declined it. I fired
him instead."

Everyone but Duo (even Solo; even HE knew what this meant) blinked. "What?!"

"Relax!" Duo laughed. "He insisted that this way, I can
draw money from him for six weeks as law. He believed it would have given
me long enough to find another job." Fondly hugging the little girl,
he added, "I tried to refuse, but Trieze is too persistent for my own
good."

"It's the least I can do for the trouble my wife's other caused
you," the older man replied smoothly. "If it weren't for her come
ons whenever she visited the restaurant, you would have never been put in
such an uncomfortable situation. The cooks in back and some of your regulars
are still complaining over your recent situation, Duo."

Heero nodded. "I see," when he really didn't. Duo could tell
from the curiosity lingering under his smoldering Prussian eyes.

Trieze nodded at the assembled group. "We need to be going. It was
a pleasure meeting you again, Duo, and it's nice to see that your tastes
are improving." He grinned unruly as he eyed Heero. "I do believe
Anne is a truly big fan of yours, Mr. Yuy."

"Send her my best wishes," Heero replied automatically, still
smarting over the unfairness of Duo's condition with the woman. Deciding
it was all for the best, he nodded his farewell.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"You're curious, aren't you?"

Heero didn't hesitate in nodding. They were walking toward the nearest
mall, deciding to take a slower pace than the three in the limo. The night
air, despite being in the city, was cool and crisp, and the sky was cloudless.
He could just imagine the individual twinkling stars in the sky as it had
been near Kyoto ten years ago, spending the summer with his elderly grandfather
at the lonely shrine...

"Let's just say that were it not for her accident when she was fourteen,
Hilde would be very interested in Ms. Peacecraft's offers."

The Japanese boy paused in mid-step, but kept his pace after the slight
stagger. "I don't understand. Solo--"

"Is the result of the accident," Duo interrupted quickly, sucking
in his breath and looking dispirited. "Aunt Helen has been sick for
a very long time. Before I came to live with them, Hilde had gone out one
night to go grocery shopping. She hadn't the time during the day, and she
thought it wouldn't be too bad at night."

Heero's eyes widen. The family lived a terrible neighbor, a violent part
of the city. Going out at night and coming through a place as such was bound
to have horrendous results... "She... Oh, Kami-sama..."

"Yes... We don't usually talk about it, and I don't like letting
people know. But I just wanted you to relay the story to Ms. Peacecraft.
I don't want Hilde hurt, especially if she decides she likes Relena. Heero,
promise me..."

"I'll tell Relena. I promise." Heero took Duo's hand and squeezed
in comfort, seeing the distress deep in his violet orbs. "Don't worry,
koibito. Relena will treat Hilde like a princess if she ever decided she's
interested. She'll be nothing if not courteous and caring. I know Relena."
Almost distantly, he added, "Everything will be fine."

"Aa. Sou ka." Grinning widely, his mourning for his cousin
not forgotten, but shuffled in the back of his mind, he snuggled into the
Japanese boy's arm, breathing in the scent of a personal smell and a sweet
whiff of cologne.

Yes. Everything would be fine...

~~~~~~~~~~
To be continued...
~~~~~~~~~~

I don't know if that `law' thing is still law anymore (it was down here
some years ago, I think). But if it isn't, it is in the story.

I posted this on Thursday. I KNOW I did. But it didn't show up, and I
didn't bother to check... *growls* I blame it all on Yahoo...

Relena- an excuse to make her nice in at least ONE of my fics. Since
Duo isn't around to NAG ME about it, that is... *grins*

Hilde- yes, she was raped at an early age. *shrivels* Sorry, sorry! I'm
just trying to have some background romance and stuff. I thought it was
a pretty good idea at the time...

Forgive me for any misspellings and mispronunciations. Also, if a Japanese
word is used or spelled wrong, I'm truly very sorry. And SORRY for making
the chapter so damn short! ^.^; I wanted to get it out as soon as I could,
so... *shrug* Thank you for reading, and C&C very welcome!